Posted on 06/08/2007 7:44:36 AM PDT by LM_Guy
One Plan Would Impose Surtax Of 4.3% on Richest Households
House Democrats looking to spare millions of middle-class families from the expensive bite of the alternative minimum tax are considering adding a surcharge of 4 percent or more to the tax bills of the nation's wealthiest households.
Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), chairman of the House subcommittee with primary responsibility for the AMT, said that option would also lower AMT bills for families making $250,000 to $500,000. And it would pay for reductions under the regular income tax for married couples, children and the working poor.
All told, the proposal would lower taxes for as many as 90 million households, and Neal said it has broad support among House leaders and Democrats on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. "Everybody's on board," he said.
Neal has yet to release details of the plan, however, and others inside and outside the committee say major pieces of it are still in flux. Some Democrats say Neal's plan stretches the definition of the middle class too far, providing AMT relief to too many wealthy households. They argue that the cutoff for families to be spared from the AMT should be lower, at $200,000, $150,000 or even $75,000.
"There is consensus to make sure that we have some responsible tax policy that will also treat taxpayers fairly. No one ever expected to be caught in the AMT making 75 grand," said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), a Ways and Means Committee member whose Los Angeles district is populated by working poor. "We're trying to come up with a fix that does right by the great majority of Americans who fall into the middle class."
The debate has focused attention on a different surtax proposed by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the......
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The most recent patch expired in December, and unless Congress acts, the tax is projected to strike more than 23 million households next spring, many of them earning as little as $50,000 a year.
Meanwhile, France is acting to put a cap on its taxes.
The Dems will allow the taxes to go up.
The AMT is a perfect example how attempts to “soak the rich” inevitably wind up biting the middle class the most.
There is no excuse for the Republican Congress not to have fixed this when they had the chance.
And they should, let all who vote Democrat for Government to be a charity, finance their own share.
Yep, 7% flat tax for all would have fixed it.
Agreed
“lower AMT bills for families making $250,000 to $500,000”
He means it would lower them below what they’d otherwise be if they do nothing. You’re still going to be paying more than you did last year though.
Wait a minute folks. They are going to have a surcharge tax of 4% to eliminate an AMT Tax.
We raised your taxes to reduce your taxes.
problem is they will tax the rich being defined as anyone with combined income over $100,000 still hitting the middle class.
That's because, according to the Democrats, anyone who makes over $20K/year is rich.
What do you expect from the party of "we're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good" and the "'we're all in it together' society"? Note that the globalist Republican corps is only marginally better...
Instead of a 4.3% surcharge, why is he not establishing a debate of the Fair Tax vs. The Flat Tax?
I will never understand the mind of a redistributionist....
Uh, I have a crazy idea. ABOLISH the damn thing. Problem solved.
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